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help with letters b and d

home / writing / help with letters b and d
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help kids with letters b and d

As I’ve said very recently, letter reversals are quite normal for emerging readers and writers. But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with helping our kiddos remember the tough ones.

Back in January, I saved a Word World episode because I thought that the way it handled the tricky letters b and d was really awesome. Every so often we watch it again, just so I can try to make this catchy little song stick in Maddy, Owen, and Cora’s heads.

Sometimes they need reminding. Tonight was one of those nights.

Here’s the skinny. . .

  • Putting the b- and d- Confusion to Bed: Tonight while I was helping a tired Maddy complete her “Read to Me, Talk with Me” assignment (fyi: these are very simple activities for kindergartners to complete after they read a book with a parent), she paused and looked at me after she wrote a letter ‘p’.

I don’t know if that’s a ‘p’ or a 9, and I don’t really care, she said. I’m going to hope it’s a ‘p’, though, because I’m adding ‘picture’ to my list. (She was making a list of all of the things she could see in Baby Bear’s messy room from the book, Goldilocks and The Three Bears, by James Marshall, 1988.)

I said, Maddy, it’s okay to ask for help, though, if you want some. Yesterday when we started this, you wrote the number ’49’ on the page. Remember, you counted 49 books in Baby Bear’s room? Maybe that will help you. We all need help sometimes.

She looked up and saw 49, and she said, Oh, I remember.

help kids with letters b and d
Maddy was one tired list-writer tonight,
and the b’s and d’s were giving her trouble. . .

But when she got to the ‘d’ in ‘teddy bears’, she looked at me again. She said, I know ‘d’s because they’re in my name, but sometimes I mix them up in other words. I think I need help with d’s.

That was all I needed to bust out with, Liiiiine and circle is the lettaaa ‘bbbbeeeee’, circle and liiiiiine is the lettaaaa ‘ddddeeee’. . .

The episode of PBS’s Word World that I mentioned above contains a crazy-catchy song that helps kiddos remember how to distinguish letters b- and d-. It’s cute. It’s funny, and I think it can help.

 

help kids with b & d practice sheet | teachmama.com by teach mama


Because I know it will come up again sometime soon, I made a b- and d- sheet for Maddy to use–not so much to bore her out of her mind as much as I want to get her drawing and thinking.

It contains the lyrics to Frog’s b- and d- song, a place to practice b’s and d’s, and a place to draw some words just like they do in Word World.

We want our children to write freely, without stressing over whether they are writing the letters correctly. But we also want them to have some tricks up their sleeve to call on when they want or need them.

I’ve always “drawn words” with the students I’ve tutored when they got stuck on g’s, p’s, d’s, or b’s. Whether it’s ‘dog’ with a face in the circle, an ear made out of the line, and a tail sticking out of the ‘g’, or it’s a crazy bug made out of the letters b-u-g, I’ve tried what I can. And the sillier the better.

I really, really like the way Word World handles b’s and d’s with ‘bed’–the song, the picture, the whole thing–works well for little guys; I just wish I could find the song to share here, but my search was fruitless. Bummer.

help kids with letters b and d

Here are the lyrics to Frog’s song, but you really need to hear it to love it:

Which is the ‘b’? Here’s a trick that’s great. First is the line, standing tall and straight.

Next is the circle, like a pillow for your head. That’s ‘b’, the first letter in ‘bed’.

Which is the ‘d’? This trick beats them all.

First comes the circle, round like a ball. Next comes the line, tall and straight. That’s the letter ‘d’.

Isn’t that great? Line and circle is the letter ‘b’. Circle and line is the letter ‘d’. . .
from Word World, season 3, episode 7 (09/08/09).

And that was our later-night b- and d- learning for today.


Update (5/06/10): thanks to @pbsparents, the videos are now on the PBS site!

  • Here’s the infamous ‘bed’ video and song
  • Here’s another song from the same episode

Thanks, PBS!

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About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro ยท http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

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For the next few weeks leading up to my own start to the school year I am sharing a new series called โ€œDe-Mystifying Dyslexiaโ€ and I would love for you to join me! 

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(Part 2) 

The series will be shared on IG stories, on tiktok, on the teachmama facebook page, and in the Take 5 newsletter. 

Look for the logo on social, and if you want to receive the whole thing via email, then sign up for Take5 on the link below. 

Iโ€™m really excited about this. Itโ€™s taken a long, long time to create, and the only thing I ask is that you, once viewing it all, could take 2 minutes to give me some feedback. There will be a google form on the last of the slides, at the end of the series. I thank you, I appreciate you, and I look forward to learning along with you.

Join the Take 5 list if you want this series to land in your inbox: 
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#raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher teachersofIG dyslexia teachreading
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Hi and thank you for your interest in watching my โ€˜de-mystifying dyslexiaโ€™ series. 

My name is Amy Mascott, and Iโ€™m a reading specialist and former high school English teacher. Iโ€™m also the creator of teachmama.com  where since 2008, Iโ€™ve helped families make meaningful connections with their kids and build bridges between home and school. 

As an educator, Iโ€™m always trying to share important informationโ€”bc I really think that when we know better, we do better. This series is part of my final project for a course Iโ€™m taking through Advancement Courses called โ€˜understanding dyslexiaโ€™. 

And as a reading teacher, I need to know all I can about this condition. What I realized is that I had a lot to learnโ€”maybe you, as a parent or teacher yourself, can also stand to learn a little bit. 

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So if you would like to learn a little about dyslexiaโ€”if you would like for me to โ€˜de-mystify dyslexiaโ€™ for you, then follow along! 

(Continued on next VIDEO)

#readingteacher #teachersofIG #demystifyingdyslexia

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Oh HEEEEEYYY, @luvvie โ€” did you see that @littletroublemaker made our hallway bulletin board? ๐Ÿ˜‰โ™ฅ๏ธ

(Itโ€™s what Rusty the ๐ŸฆŠ is currently reading.) 

Find it at your favorite bookstore or order here: https://amzn.to/3Pu3tWs

(This is my affiliate link, so when you use it, I will earn a small percentage of the sale, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for using my link and supporting my small business!)

#readingteacher #raiseareader #kidlit #bestbooks #linkinbio
View
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How can people with dyslexia learn to read? ๐Ÿค”

Here are the 3๏ธโƒฃ elements that reading instruction should contain in order to be most effective for students with dyslexiaโ€”

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #readingteacher #teachreading #dyslexiaawareness
View
Open
Lately when I find four leaf clovers, Iโ€™ve been leaving them. ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

So if youโ€™re in Maryland, and you happen upon a lonely, little 4-leafer with very little grass, weeds, or leaves around it, I donโ€™t know WHO tried to set you up for success.

#yougotthis #keepyoureyesopen #itsthelittlethings #kilpattyluck
View
Open
Okayโ€”how do we know if someone has dyslexia? 

Which professionas are able to make that important determination? 

โ–ถ๏ธ Watch to find out. 

Hit me with the questions you still have about dyslexiaโ€”and know we have a few more posts to go!

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #teachreading #readingteachersofig
View
Open
What are some of the common signs of dyslexia?

Watch to learn and find out!

#demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading #dyslexia
View
Open
True โœ… or false โŒ?

#demystifyingdyslexia #dyslexiaeducation #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading
View
Open
What do you know about dyslexia? 

What questions do you have about dyslexia? 

For the next few weeks leading up to my own start to the school year I am sharing a new series called โ€œDe-Mystifying Dyslexiaโ€ and I would love for you to join me! 

Follow in my stories or on the highlight above!

#dyslexia #teading  #readingteacher #raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia
View
Open
(Part 2) 

The series will be shared on IG stories, on tiktok, on the teachmama facebook page, and in the Take 5 newsletter. 

Look for the logo on social, and if you want to receive the whole thing via email, then sign up for Take5 on the link below. 

Iโ€™m really excited about this. Itโ€™s taken a long, long time to create, and the only thing I ask is that you, once viewing it all, could take 2 minutes to give me some feedback. There will be a google form on the last of the slides, at the end of the series. I thank you, I appreciate you, and I look forward to learning along with you.

Join the Take 5 list if you want this series to land in your inbox: 
https://take5.teachmama.com/

#raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher teachersofIG dyslexia teachreading
View
Open
Hi and thank you for your interest in watching my โ€˜de-mystifying dyslexiaโ€™ series. 

My name is Amy Mascott, and Iโ€™m a reading specialist and former high school English teacher. Iโ€™m also the creator of teachmama.com  where since 2008, Iโ€™ve helped families make meaningful connections with their kids and build bridges between home and school. 

As an educator, Iโ€™m always trying to share important informationโ€”bc I really think that when we know better, we do better. This series is part of my final project for a course Iโ€™m taking through Advancement Courses called โ€˜understanding dyslexiaโ€™. 

And as a reading teacher, I need to know all I can about this condition. What I realized is that I had a lot to learnโ€”maybe you, as a parent or teacher yourself, can also stand to learn a little bit. 

Maybe, like me, youโ€™ve grown up thinking that dyslexia was a condition where people read letters backwardsโ€”b for d or p for g? Maybe you thought, like I did, that if a person was dyslexic, they saw all of the letters jumbled together on the page? Iโ€™m here to tell you that both of those things are untrue. 

So if you would like to learn a little about dyslexiaโ€”if you would like for me to โ€˜de-mystify dyslexiaโ€™ for you, then follow along! 

(Continued on next VIDEO)

#readingteacher #teachersofIG #demystifyingdyslexia

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